Intel Edison Aims to Dress Wearables

LAS VEGAS — Intel CEO Brian Krzanich outlined a vision for a wearable world at Monday's pre-CES keynote, the cornerstone of which centers on a SD-sized computing module.

"We asked why aren't wearables everywhere, what's holding back wearables in this markeplace? We realized they don't integrate all the features we want... and they're not solving real problems," Krzanich said. "We fixed that by making everything smart."

Intel hopes the next generation of smart, wearable devices will be powered by Edison, its 22mm Quark-based computer housed in a SD card form factor. Available in the middle of 2014, Krzanich said he believes Edison will "enable rapid innovation and product development."

Krzanich demonstrated a smart headseat called Jarvis, powered by Edison, which allows users to interact with their phones without touching. Wolfram language and matematica on Edison enables Jarvis to respond intelligently and interrupt politely.

Intel CEO Brian Krzanich at Intel CES Keynote speech. Source: Intel

Edison also powered a smart charging bowl, a smart watch with geo-fencing technology and no tethering, smart earbuds, and a nursery 2.0., where Krzanich demonstrated a “smart turtle onesie” that tunes into a baby’s mood, breathing, and temperature, and reports back to tired parents -- on their smart coffee cups.

The general-purpose platform is open-sourced, supports Linux, and has built-in WiFi and Bluetooth LE. The ultra-low-power Edison also will connect to an online app store.

Intel will partner with Barneys, the Council Fashion Designers of America, and Opening Ceremony to work on wrist-worn watches. To further encourage innovation, Krzanich announced the Make It Wearable contest for innovative wearable design, with $1.3 million in prizes and the chance to network with Intel officials and industry luminaries.

“As we go through the year, you’re going to see more and more partnerships as we develop more of these technologies,” he said.

Based on x86 with WiFi and BLE connectivity built in, how does the energy footprint look? The fundemental of wearable is low energy consumption that the ideal runtime of a one charge shall be at least 1 month imo. Nonetheless, given x86 core, the adoption will be high since Edision supports 2 OS and porting of Linux shall be relatively simple.

The strategy is great and if the price point of buying a development board is competitive, Edision might actually gain momentum.

I like several things about this, not the least of which is the form factor. Wearable devices will need to adapt from the traditional hard box into something that integrates better into whatever they will be put in. I don't know if this one will do it, but kudos to Intel for experimenting. I would also like to see a power scavenging capability. People move, which should generate power. Running clothes are almost a no-brainer, as are clothes for going out on the town dancing.

I was thinking the same thing. Wearables fundamentally need sensors, not just intelligence, connectivity & low energy consumption. But I look forward to seeing what kinds of new products are developed on this new platform.

To me, Intel is making a platform to catch the wave of IoT. It is difficult to decide which sensor to put into the system at this point. Yet, I agree with you and I hope Intel has a partnership plan to start integrating Edision with sensors produced by different companies. On the other hands, Intel might actually wish vendors start developing solution based on the platform, hoping for later integration.

It seems as though Intel is moving to offer Android and Windows equally for mobile systems, which means it has finally accepted that smartphones and tablets---which it was late to really recognize as equals--are of increasing importance as PCs decline steadily in sales. The Wintel era may be drawing to a close.